


Seven Days For Love

by fckloyalty



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Also not to spoil anthing - Jaime and Brienne are already in love, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, But not from each other, But they don't know that the other one feels the same, Cause i hate him, Divorced Brienne, Divorced Jaime, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Joffrey doesn't exist in this universe, Past Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister, Past Renly Baratheon/Brienne of Tarth, Podrick is Brienne's adopted son
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:13:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fckloyalty/pseuds/fckloyalty
Summary: After being experienced by life – both divorced Jaime and Brienne take a break from their kids and go on vacation by themselves.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister & Brienne of Tarth, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 48
Kudos: 107





	1. Day 1 - Brienne

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Here comes a little story about two best friends who finally decided to give themselves a chance in love once they have landed on vacation together. I don't plan any dramas on their way, it will be a not-that-slow slow burn, full of fluff and banter with an obvious happy ending. 
> 
> If I were to give this fic a subtitle it would probably be: "Everyone ships Braime. Including themselves."
> 
> So you were warned twice now that it's a fluff. 
> 
> Hope you will enjoy it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime surprises Brienne with an unexpected vacation idea.

„Jaime, I am so sorry, can I call you back later? I just got out of the kindergarten and the teacher said that someone picked Podrick up earlier and I need to call dad to ask if it was him, because I swear I don’t remember telling him to do this but I might have just forgotten in this mess and I really hope it was him cause I am already going crazy if it wasn’t- -“

“Brienne,” Jaime disturbed her calmly.

“I promise, the minute I end the call with my dad I will call you back—“

“Brienne, it was me.”

She needed a minute to process his words.

“What?” she asked only, leaning on the back of her seat, feeling like her shoulders relaxed a bit already. From the moment she left kindergarten she was so tense and deep in thoughts that she almost got herself under the truck while crossing the road. All the dark scenarios with child trafficking started coming to her head and she wouldn’t forgive herself if something bad happened to Podrick.

“It was me who picked him up and then drove him to your father,” he explained in the same calm voice.

“But why? I told the teacher not to let Podrick go with anyone else than me. Women really lose all their assertiveness when talking to you.” She breathed out and closed her eyes for a moment.

Jaime laughed at the other end of the phone and she smiled hearing that.

“To her defense – she really did well for the first few minutes.” He laughed between the words. “But no – seriously. She didn’t want to let him go until I made her talk to Selwyn. Tommen also confirmed that he knows Podrick. Finally, she gave up when I told her it’s a surprise.” She was sure that he smiled while saying that.

She raised her eyebrows, not being sure what he meant. “A surprise?”

“I’m taking you to vacation, Bri,” his calm voice graced her ears again.

“What?” she asked again, not being able to understand him right away. She needed a decent sleep, but having a child and trying to deal with divorce wasn’t the best time for that. “Jaime, no,” she added when she realized what he meant. “You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Not at all, wench.” He was still smiling which frustrated her even more.

“Jaimeeee,” she moaned. “What have I told you? I don’t need - - “

“ - - babysitting, yes I know. But I just thought we both could use a break from… this,” he sighed.

“You mean kids?”

“Yes, kids as well.”

She didn’t reply. She knew he was right. She needed a break, at least five minutes for herself, but she didn’t know how to feel about the whole vacation. She didn’t even let her mind go this far recently, cause whenever she thought about herself she started feeling guilty that she was not taking care of her son properly. And last months turned into proving everyone around that she was strong enough to be a single mother.

“You deserve it, wench,” Jaime said, almost like he read her mind. “You’re an amazing mother, but you suck at taking care of yourself. Then let me do this for you.”

She didn’t know what was happening to her but suddenly tears appeared in her eyes.

“Gods, you’re really good at talking.” She laughed shortly while wiping the tears with the back of her hand. “I don’t know how you’re doing it, but sometimes I understand all these women.”

“You going for it is the biggest compliment for me. But I mean everything I said. Please agree, it’s only a week and you won’t regret it.”

“A week? With you? That’s like a definition of regret.” She laughed again and felt a strange tingling in her stomach. Maybe she really needed time off at least for her body to start working properly again.

“Ha-ha, very funny.” He must have rolled his eyes. “Okay, move your ass here, wench, cause I’m in front of your house and I forgot the keys.”

“You bastard! You really thought this through, didn’t you? ” She shook her head and turned on the speaker on her phone before she threw it on the seat next to her, so she would be able to start her car already.

“I think you wanted to say the most caring best friend in the world.”

“Yeah, that too.” She drove out of the car park. “I’m on my way, see you in ten minutes.”

“Finally!”

“And Jaime…,” she started unsure if she really wanted to finish this sentence.

“Yes, wench?”

She stayed silent for a few seconds more before she said: “Thank you.”

And she was sure he smiled again.

“Anything for you,” he said in his calm, low voice and hung up.

She smiled to herself as well and felt the same tingling in her stomach as before. And that was the moment she decided that she really needed this vacation and she might actually try to enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments! Any sign that you have read/liked/enjoyed the story gives me a motivation to write!


	2. Day 1 - Brienne II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime and Brienne are on their way and Brienne struggles with longing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday (aka update day) everyone! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and lovely comments below the previous chapter. I appreciate every single one of you who stopped by.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy the next part of the story!

Jaime was very strict when it came to packing for vacation. When she arrived, he was standing in front of her house with a suitcase in his hands.

“That’s the bag you’re gonna pack into,” he said right away when she left her car. 

“I thought I was supposed to relax,” she replied and started searching for keys.

“I promise the relaxation part starts right after you fit into this bag. My car can’t handle tons of luggage and for sure not any lady stuff you would load there.”

“As if I was ever a lady,” she mumbled and came into the house, Jaime following her closely. “Any time restrictions? As I feel like you’re the one setting the rules here?”

A big smile appeared on his face. “I like that.”

She rolled her eyes and took the bag from him. “I. Hate. You.,” she articulated carefully and started walking up the stairs, thinking of what to take, when she realized she had no idea where they were going. “Wait, you didn’t tell me where you are taking me.”

“Cause that’s a surprise.”

“No, Jaime. This whole vacation thing is already enough of a surprise to me. You need to tell me where we are going so I know what to take.”

She noticed how Jaime was thinking about what to say. “Alright, but nothing specific,” he said finally. “We’re going to the beach.” Her forehead frowned and immediately she wanted to tell him what she thought about this choice but he didn’t let her. “And you have 30 minutes. Better hurry up or I’m going without you.”

“Oh, I wish,” she commented, walked up the stairs again, and headed to her bedroom.

# ***

“What if I was on my period? And you took me on vacation to the beach?” she asked him when they were already on their way. 

She really tried her best to pack everything she thought she might need, but the small bag that Jaime gave her wasn’t helping. Thankfully it was past the laundry day in their house – he probably thought about it as well – so she had a wide range of clothes to choose from. She went for regular ones that she felt comfortable in and a set of bikini, sunscreen, and sunglasses – stuff that she felt was required on such vacation. 

When Jaime packed her bag to the car she was still going through everything in her head. And she actually remembered some of the things that she might also need, but Jaime didn’t let her come back to the house and basically pushed her into the car. That was why for more than half an hour she didn’t say anything pretending she was mad – he deserved it for the whole vacation thing as well. The period complaint was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

“You’re not on your period. I was buying you tampons last month at the beginning of it, so I’m pretty sure you ended it last week,” he replied smoothly without moving his eyes from the road. 

She didn’t know if she should be impressed or offended. Of course, they did groceries for each other sometimes, but she never thought that he might be remembering such details.

“And how come you’re so knowledgeable about it?” she asked only, crossing her arms. 

“I’m the father of a teenage girl. You underappreciate me,” he grinned to her, knowing he won this exchange. He kept on checking the road in front of them, but also he glanced at her from time to time when she didn’t reply. “Hey, wench, enough of this silence treatment. You punished me enough.”

She sighed. At least he noticed. “I’m sorry, I just- - “

“You’re mad?”

“No,” she replied right away but then thought about it a bit. “I don’t know. Maybe. Even, if I am, it’s only because I couldn’t say goodbye to Podrick. Could I maybe facetime him once we stop for a break?” she looked at his face hopefully. 

“I told you it’s a vacation from kids in the first place.”

“Oh, please, you basically kidnapped me, I can get at least one call with my son in such circumstances.”

“Alright,” he simply replied. 

She raised her eyebrows, surprised by his positive response. “You let go so fast?”

“I just feel like when it comes to Podrick I wouldn’t win with you anyway.” He knew her so well. She wouldn’t stop insisting on this one. In fact, she already missed her son a lot and didn’t feel okay with the fact that the first time she would be away from him for so long happened so suddenly. Jaime was lucky that she trusted him and she knew that he did all in his power to make sure that Podrick was safe and had everything he needed.

“You’re not wrong,” she sighed.

“But only one call and then you focus on yourself,” he reminded her of the whole purpose of their trip.

“I know,” she replied sadly, propping her face on a hand and looking outside the window. 

“You sound like taking care of yourself is the worst thing that could have happened to you.” 

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop whining. I promise I will do my best to have fun.”

“And I promise I will do my best to entertain you,” he looked at her and winked. She rolled her eyes seeing that. He really loved annoying her with all these cheap gestures. 

“Alright, so as you took me against my will and made me pack in an inhumanly little amount of time, you didn’t even manage to tell me where you left _your_ kids,” she glanced at him curiously. 

“Tommen actually stayed together with Podrick and your father,” Jaime smiled after saying that. “I thought it would be a nice time for them all and Selwyn actually was delighted to have some more company. And Myrcie… uhm, she wanted to stay with her mother,” he said, and instantly his smile disappeared. 

Brienne scanned his face and bit her bottom lip, watching how he was clenching his teeth. Jaime wasn’t on good terms with Cersei for a long time. The divorce was one thing, but fighting for kids in a court was another. It cost Jaime a lot and Brienne was thankful that in the end, he got to take care of Tommen and Myrcella. She really didn’t want to imagine how damaged he would be if the judge gave full custody to Cersei. 

“How do you feel about that?” she asked, turning to him slightly. 

“I don’t know. She’s getting older. I won’t forbid her to see her mother. I just don’t want Cersei to have a bad influence on her,” he replied, holding tight on a steering wheel.

“That’s understandable, but Cersei didn’t see her in a long time. I’m sure she missed her and she will do her best to encourage Myrcie to visit her more often.”

“Well, that makes one of us who have that much faith in Cersei.”

“Myrcie is a smart girl, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about,” she tried to cheer him up. She rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, feeling his tensed muscles and he thanked her with a sad smile. “You could really use this vacation as well, huh?”

“I guess,” he sighed. 

“You sound like taking care of yourself is the worst thing that could have happened to you,” she quoted his words from earlier with a smile ghosting her lips. 

“Seems like we will truly suffer together this week.” He looked back at her and when his eyes met hers, he smiled again. Her thumb still rubbed his shoulder gently and when she saw his smile, she couldn’t help but smile as well. _It doesn’t feel like we will suffer at all_ , she thought, but when tingling in her stomach alarmed her that they might be looking at each other for a little bit too long, she turned her eyes on the road and he did the same few seconds later, scratching his nose. 

_There’s gonna be a lot of different kind of suffering._

“Didn’t expect anything else from the beginning,” Brienne said out loud, taking a deep breath and turned her body to the front again. “Okay!” She clapped her lap a few times and tried to fill the awkward silence. ”I need to pee, when will we have a break?” She started looking around, trying to spot a place where they could stopover. 

“You should have gone to pee before we set off,” he complained. 

She gave him an angry look. “I would if someone let me.”

“You were the one who demanded the time restriction.”

“There!” She pointed at a big sign with a petrol-station chain in a distance, ignoring his reply. “Let’s stop there!”

“As you wish,” Jaime said and changed the lane on a speedway to be able to pull over in a few miles.

# ***

When they finally got there, she went to the bathroom and Jaime checked the shop to buy some snacks for the rest of the journey.

Once she was out and noticed that Jaime was still standing in the queue, she thought it was the best moment to take her phone and walk a bit further away so the road’s noise wouldn’t disturb her. 

Immediately she called Selwyn and she was really happy to see him accepting her facetime after a few seconds. 

“Hi dad!” she waved to him with a smile on her face. 

“Brinny? I thought you were supposed to take a week off.”

She rolled her eyes. _Here we go, another person initiated in this whole plan._

“Yes, dad, we’re on our way already. I just wanted to see Podrick and make sure he’s alright.”

She saw the same face that Jaime made earlier. Did they really expect her to stop being the overprotective mother right away? 

“Darling, you don’t have to worry about anything. I am taking care of him.” He could repeat that over and over again and she believed him, but she still couldn’t feel as calm as when she would have Podrick in her arms. “Do you want me to call him out? I think he is playing in the garden with Tommen. I really couldn’t keep them inside.”

In silence she watched her dad stand up and move the curtain to open the doors to the terrace, but right before he stepped outside she suddenly stopped him. “You know, dad, it’s fine. I don’t want to disturb them playing.”

It was really hard to say this, but she felt like it was the right thing to do. She wasn’t the only one going through this. For Podrick it was a whole new experience as well and knowing he was happy, safe, and playing outside with his friend should be everything that she needed to know at this point. 

“You sure?”

She nodded her head, still a bit against herself. “Yes, yes, just tell him that I love him.”

Selwyn came back to the table. “He knows that. But I will.”

“And I love you too, dad. Thank you for taking care of them.” She felt the lump in her throat but tried to ignore it. 

“I love you too darling. And you should thank Jaime, he’s the brain behind all of this.”

She rolled her eyes. “I thanked him once. It’s enough for his ego.” 

Selwyn laughed. “You’re probably right, but you know – he’s a good guy.” Her father looked at her and she knew that look. Selwyn loved Jaime and there was no day without him complimenting him for the smallest things. But whenever their conversation got a little bit too close to _you know, Brinny, you two would look good together_ , she always changed the topic. 

“I know that I know,” she sighed. Cause it was just too complicated to explain, especially if she wasn’t sure what was going on herself. “I will be going now, dad. In case anything happens – p l e a s e call us.”

“I won’t cause everything will be fine. Please rest as much as you can. You deserve this baby.”

“Thank you dad. I love you, bye.” She waved goodbye and watched him hang up. Squeezing the phone in her hands, she looked at the trees in front of her, trying to process what just happened and how she felt about it. 

When she heard the steps behind her, she turned around and saw Jaime approaching her with a bag full of snacks in his hand. 

“Have you talked to Podrick?” he asked.

She shook her head. “He- he was playing in the garden with Tommen. I didn’t want to disturb them.”

“You can call later if you want,” he replied in his calm, low voice again. How come he always knew that something was going on?

“No, it’s alright.” She bit her bottom lip and tried to avoid looking at him, feeling like she was close to breaking down. “Dad is taking good care of them. They-they will be fine,” her voice was cracking now and hearing that made her feel even worse.

“Hey, what’s happening?” Jaime asked, looking all concerned and immediately got closer to her, throwing a bag on the ground and took her into the embrace. She didn’t even try to oppose cause that was exactly what she needed at that moment. 

And then she simply let it all out. “He is growing up so fast. I remember the first day I saw him and then the first day he came to our house. And now he’s gonna spend the whole week without me,” she sobbed into his chest so ashamed about this breakdown, but also instantly relieved that she was able to vent. 

“Wench,” he started, soothingly rubbing her back. “I am sure your son will need you for many more years. You will get all the hugs and kisses and as much you-him time as you want. And he adores you. You’re most likely his favorite human in the whole world.”

“Iron Man is,” she sniffled and he chuckled hearing her response. 

“Well, then I’m sure you’re a very close second. And you must admit Iron Man is a tough competition.”

He held her in his embrace for a little longer, pulling her closer and resting his chin on her head. He made sure that she got all the tears out and that she calmed down enough to listen to him.

“Brienne,” he started again and he rarely used her full name but once he did, she knew he was serious. He parted from her and looked her in the eyes. “I know I am pampering you today, but you are an amazing mother. The best mother Podrick could ever get. You’re crazy about this boy. But especially because he will need you for some more years, you need to think about yourself too. And I want to make sure that you do this.”

She nodded her head slowly. She hated it when he was talking so much sense. “I guess you’re right.”

“We both know I am. And trust me – once it’s over you will beg me for the next time.” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. There they were – back to his trash talk again. 

“They love this talk, don’t they?” she asked, fighting the smile coming to her face. Her eyes were still all wet from crying and he already managed to cheer her up.

He bent to pick up the bag and slowly started walking back to the car. “I always knew I need to level up my game to impress you.”

She wiped her face and followed him. “You still have a few days, don’t give up.”

“I wasn’t planning to. Let's go!” He encouraged her with a hand motion when he opened the door. “I want to get there before the sunset.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always tell me what you think in the comments!


	3. Day 1 - Jaime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime and Brienne arrive at their destination and Jaime finds himself unable to control his feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am fully aware that I am super late with this chapter (like 3 weeks late) and honestly I blame it all on insecurity. 
> 
> I wanted to post this chapter on time but I got way too insecure about it and it resulted in basically giving up on this story for quite some time. But as I want to continue writing it very much, I guess the only way is to move on, post it and simply deal with it.
> 
> So I am sharing this cursed chapter with you, please be gentle with it as it suffered enough by being locked from being seen by more than two pairs of eyes since *checks phone, takes a deep breath* 27th of July. 
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy it at least a little bit, especially that it's first one from Jaime's POV (and he's a softie and unfulfilled poet). Off you go!

For the rest of the way Brienne was asleep. When they got back to the car she curled up on her seat and didn’t say much. From time to time he made sure that she was alright and it wasn’t another of her silent treatments until he noticed her resting her head and closing her eyes. He heard her snoring quietly soon after.

After what happened at the petrol station he started feeling guilty that she needed to go through all of that because of him. He didn’t expect it to be that hard and emotional for her and though he knew that eventually she would be fine, seeing her missing Podrick so much was breaking his heart.

But that was also when he saw that she needed this vacation more than he realized.

When they finally reached their destination, he parked his car on the small car-park in front of the forest and turned to Brienne. He smiled seeing her flushed cheeks and gently fixed the hair that fell on her face, tucking it behind her ear.

“Hey, Bri.” He shook her shoulder lightly. “We’re here.”

He didn’t need to repeat. She woke up, suddenly raised her body and looked around nervously. It took her a moment to take a deep breath and calm down.

“I’m sorry I fell asleep,” she said, straightening properly on her seat and wiping her face.

“Don’t worry. I’m glad you got some rest. Actually... that way you have a surprise till the very end.”

She looked around curiously this time, looking more and more awake. “Jaime, where are we?”

He fought a smile coming to his face. “Come and I will show you.”

When he started planning their trip at first he thought about taking her to the spa. A whole week full of relaxing massages, mud baths, and treatments sounded like something that she might have needed. But then another, c o m p l e t e l y different idea came to his head and he felt that she would like it much better than the previous one.

“Follow me,” he said when they left the car and headed to the path between the trees. The passage was short but every now and then he made sure that Brienne was just behind him.

With every step the sound of the ocean was more and more audible. She knew they were going to the beach after all so he wasn’t worried that it would reveal anything yet. 

Because it wasn’t the sound, but the view that was about to appear in front of them that made a core of his surprise. 

When he finally stepped on the sand, he took a few steps to the side and watched her with a huge grin on his face. She was cursing under her breath, getting stuck between the branches, but when she moved the last of them to the side and raised her head, she went silent and slowly her still-asleep-till-that-moment eyes opened wide and her mouth copied them soon after.

“Jaime…,” she started but covered her mouth and shook her head.

His smile widened and he looked at the horizon as well.

In front of her there was Tarth, her birthplace, away from them about two hours by a ship with its high mountains towering above its flowered meadows and clear-sand shores.

She hasn't been there since her early childhood. When her mother died she and Selwyn almost immediately moved out to King’s Landing to deal with their loss and leave the place that reminded them of that behind.

But Brienne didn’t want to forget. All the memories she shared with her mother were connected to this place. She always begged Selwyn for the stories she was too little to remember and he finally gave in. Even Jaime knew them all by heart now. She also took care of the remaining family photos and kept the only photo she had with her mother with her at all times.

Unfortunately, she has never traveled back on Tarth. She always talked about how much she wanted to do it, but there was never the right time and then so many other things got in a way that such a journey wasn’t her priority anymore. That was why he knew that the beach at the end of the world, so far away from everything and so close to her home was the best vacation that he could prepare for her.

Brienne walked further into the beach, her eyes glued to the view. When she saw the island it seemed like the whole world around her stopped existing. He let her cherish this moment for as long as she only wanted.

When she finally turned to him, her eyes were full of tears. He really hoped that this time these were happy ones, cause he couldn’t take seeing her sad for the second time that day.

“Soooo…,” he started, taking her look as an invitation, and slowly got closer to her. “Do you like it?”

“Jaime, are you serious? I have no words, it’s Tarth.” She turned to the ocean again, her sob mixing with a chuckle. “I haven’t seen it since I was five. It got so much greener.” She sighed and looked at him. “How am I gonna thank you for that?”

“Enjoy these few days. That’s all I want,” he answered honestly.

“I will, of course, I will. I feel like I have no choice now.” She only laughed this time and this pure sound warmed his heart. “But- -,” she hesitated, “ – is there a possibility that maybe... we could travel there?” Her big blue eyes glanced at him with hope in them.

Thankfully he took care of that as well.

“On the weekend there is a ship going between the village a few minutes away from here and the island. I thought we could spend the last two days there.” He smiled to her.

“That sounds perfect.” She smiled back to him back.

She was looking at the view for a little bit longer in silence and he wouldn’t have anything against standing there with her but when he noticed that the sun went down, getting closer to the horizon, he needed to disturb her.

“Hey, do you mind if I bring our bags? So we could watch the sunset already unpacked?” he asked her.

“Are we staying here?” she asked and her eyes opened widely. Gosh, he really couldn’t get tired of making her happy.

“Yep.” He nodded and turned to the side. “You see the cabin there?” He pointed in that direction and when she followed his finger with her eyes, she nodded. “It’s ours for this whole week.” He grinned.

She shook her head from disbelief. “It’s getting better and better and we only just got here.”

“Don’t put such a pressure on me, cause I might have just run out of surprises.”

“It’s already perfect, Jaime. I’m serious. I don’t know how you did this, but I couldn’t imagine it better.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s nothing, wench.”

“I will owe you for this for the rest of my life so I might as well help you with our stuff now.”

“You were supposed to rest,” he reminded her.

“And you as well. Come on, together we will do it faster, we will take a blanket and watch the sun going down.” She was the one walking in the direction of the car now and knowing he didn’t have much to say, he shook his head and quickly joined her.

# ***

While they were unpacking their stuff, he showed her around the cabin.

He was more than lucky to find such a perfect place. It had two double beds – one located on the first floor with a kitchen, a big bathroom and a fireplace and another one on the second floor joined with a bathroom and a balcony directed at the ocean. In this way, they both had a lot of space and privacy as well.

When the sun disappeared behind the horizon, after it graced them with all the shades of red and orange during the sunset, they were lying down on the blanket, facing the sky, which was slowly getting covered by thousands of stars. Her head was almost touching his chest and his fingers brushed her arm playfully from time to time.

“What are we gonna do tomorrow?” she asked him, looking up slightly.

“What do you want to do?” he asked back.

“Oh no, Jaime. No, no.” He watched her confused while she was sitting up. “We need to sort this out right away. This vacation is for both of us, right?” He nodded. “Then I want us both to decide how we are spending it, okay?” He nodded again. “So, what are we gonna do tomorrow?” she repeated her question.

He thought for a moment. “We may sleep in and then go buy something for dinner?” he suggested.

“Perfect!” She smiled widely with satisfaction and lied down.

When he felt that this time her cheek rested on the side of his chest and her hand on his abdomen cold shivers went down his spine and he moved uncontrollably which she must have taken as a wriggle.

“I’m sorry.” She raised her head and looked at him. “Is it uncomfortable? I wanted to have a better view on the island.”

It’s nothing, he wanted to say but then he looked at her again.

Something in the atmosphere has changed.

His heart started beating like crazy.

And he wasn’t able to move his eyes from her.

There must have been something about the moonlight that made her look exceptionally beautiful in that moment.

Sometimes he wished he could simply get lost in all of her features without her knowing.

He would dive deep down in her blue eyes, embracing their glimmer that could put the stars above to the shame. Her nose, the opposite of small and turned-up, still being its own piece of art graced with countless freckles. Her cheeks constantly flooded with a blush. Her hair much longer than she liked due to neglect, falling loosely on her shoulders, making him want to go through them with his fingers.

And her lips, oh, her lips, making him want to be the one that bit on them now instead of her.

Suddenly the sound of the waves vanished somewhere in the background and all that he heard was the rambling heart in his chest and his shallow breath.

He loved her.

Simple as that.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it even to himself sometimes it was getting out of control.

And apparently it was happening at that moment as well.

He loved her long before she started dating Renly, he loved her when she was getting married to him, he loved her when she was dealing with divorce. He was the one to be by her side in the most important moments of her life. But with years going by it only got harder to confess his feelings to her. They were growing stronger as friends, being each other’s support when things got rough and at one point he convinced himself that complicating their lives was the last thing they needed.

“Jaime?” Her voice brought him back to reality. “Is everything alright?”

He blinked a few times and his vision focused on her again.

“Yes, yes.” He nodded his head, taking a deep breath. He really needed to contain himself or else he was gonna suffer through the next few days which wasn’t the initial plan at all.

“Are you comfortable?” she asked with concern. That was too much for him.

“Yes, I’m sorry.” But instead of lying down again, he sat up and wiped his face. He needed a moment. “Uhm- do- do you mind if we sleep here?” That was the first thing that came to his mind.

She was watching him for a moment in silence, disoriented about what was happening. He wanted to tell her that he didn’t know what the heck he was doing as well.

Finally, she shook her head, blinking fast. “Not at all.”

“I’ll go get a blanket, it might get chilly soon.”

“Sure,” she answered shortly and sat up straight, pulling her legs closer to herself.

He got up and walked to the cabin tensed, feeling even worse knowing that she followed him with her eyes. When he got inside and rested on the wall, he was finally able to take a few deep breaths. He was burning. Burning from love and burning from the shame that he couldn’t just simply confess it to her and that it led to such strange behavior.

He walked to the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. _You’re screwed, man_ , he wanted to tell himself and then he turned on the water and cooled his face with it.

# ***

When he came back Brienne was already asleep, lying crosswise on the blanket so she was facing Tarth. He sighed with relief that he won’t be able to humiliate himself, even more, that day.

At least he hoped that the view of an island compensated her for his strange behavior.

He lied down next to her, put the blanket over both of them, made sure that he covered her whole body and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep as fast as she did, hoping that his thoughts won’t get in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to share your thoughts with me, I encourage you to comment down below!


	4. Day 2 - Brienne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime and Brienne sleep off their exhaustion and unexpectedly meet a friend from the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I didn't give up on this story, just time flies way faster than my brain is able to register. 
> 
> I really can't thank you all enough for all the lovely comments below the previous chapter. You are the best bunch of people out there and I wish everyone could be as supportive as you are. I hope you are all staying safe during this crazy time. 
> 
> Please put up with me and my belated updates and we will get to the end of this story. 
> 
> (Also in a meantime, I got like 403874298 ideas for new stories - we all have been there, am I right? -, so if I will be able to work out some writing routine I would love to share something new with you as well.)
> 
> But for now please enjoy the next part of the story about two very blind people in love. I hope you will like the new, original character I'm introducing here!

Despite sleeping on the ground Brienne felt really comfortable waking up. The sound of the waves in the background, chattering of the birds, it was all so much different from what she experienced daily in the mornings these days – which, if it wasn’t her son, was usually dead silence. It all felt way too nice to wake up, so when she felt the cool blow of the wind on her face she cuddled up into Jaime’s side and fell asleep again.

She woke up after some time. She had no idea how much time passed but there were other things that she knew for sure.

Half of her face was burning.

She was sweating like a pig.

And she just felt Jaime’s arm tightening around her which made her open her eyes immediately.

The bright sun blinded her right away and she needed to blink a lot to get used to it. It must have been noon at least – the sun was already up there in the sky. The pain in her face must have been a sunburnt then. As much as she could she raised her head and noticed that they were both lying under the blanket – which was apparently the reason for her sweat. She rested her head again and slowly she realized that it was Jaime’s chest that she was lying on. Instantly her body went stiff. She felt like if she moved even a little bit it would be another frustrating touch and she was already basically clinging to him with her whole body. Carefully she raised her eyes to check if Jaime was sleeping still – and thankfully he was.

After what happened last night she wanted to avoid any awkward situations.

She had no idea what happened to him. Instantly she started blaming herself for his behavior. The situation at the petrol station was draining for her, but it must have been stressful for him as well. What if he thought she was being ungrateful by missing Podrick so much? Thankfully she fell asleep quite fast so she didn’t have to deal with these thoughts for long. She didn’t want anything to ruin this vacation. She promised herself that she will enjoy it the fullest the moment she saw Tarth.

Thinking about the island, she felt the need to glance at it for the first time that day to make sure that it was all real but Jaime’s arms made it impossible to do.

She was fully aware that eventually, she will have to wake him up. If half of her face was burnt, she could only imagine what his face was like, especially that he slept on his back. They needed to move from the sun before they both get sunstroke and spend the rest of their vacation in the hospital.

_It would be easier if it didn’t feel so good to be in his arms_ , she thought and frowned her face at how pathetic it sounded.

But when she felt a burn on her face stinging she knew she had no other choice.

“Jaime,” she whispered and then realized that she did it way too quietly to wake him up. He was sleeping like a log. “Jaime!” she said much louder but only when she shook his shoulder quite firmly she noticed that he woke up.

She perked as much as she could and she watched him raising his head, looking around – most likely realizing they were on the beach, then frowning and shutting his eyes closed again – which most likely meant he will feel the burn on his fac-

“Fuck!” he howled and she jumped, not expecting such a loud, sudden sound. It must have been really bad.

They couldn’t stay there any longer. “Jaime, we need to move from the sun as soon as possible.”

He quickly opened his eyes again and looked at her this time. Was it even possible that he didn’t notice her at all before? When he realized that his arms were embracing her tightly, he immediately freed her. Finally, she could take a deep breath.

“Sorry,” he muttered with a sleepy voice.

She raised her body and looked at him properly. “It’s all fine,” she replied and wanted to smile seeing his messy hair with sand in them, but then she noticed his face. “Jaime, we _really_ need to go inside. It doesn’t look good.”

He moaned and closed his eyes once again and then after a short moment opened them and raised his body. He helped her get up as well, they grabbed the blankets and walked to the cabin. Despite it being the middle of the day the beach was empty – it must have been a private area and she wouldn’t be surprised if Jaime reserved it whole for them only. These were the natural consequences of being friends with a Lannister.

Before she stepped into the cabin she turned around, smiled seeing the island, and sighed. It felt so good to be back home.

Once they were back inside they agreed that the best idea was to take a shower. Jaime disappeared behind the doors of the downstairs bathroom and she could finally explore the one upstairs joined with the bedroom she was supposed to take.

She took her time in the shower, resting her head on the cold wall and letting the water run down her body. She didn’t remember when she was able to spend that much time in the bathroom, so she enjoyed every minute of it, knowing that it was the privilege she only could get in such odd circumstances. When she was out of the shower she gently put the lotion on her face and tried to push away all the thoughts about how ridiculous she looked with half a red face.

It was when she lied down on the bed that she felt the negative effects of sleeping on the ground. Her shoulders were tense, her back hurt in multiple spots and she spent few solid minutes on finding a position that would be in any way relieving. When she finally did that, she closed her eyes, breathed out, and enjoyed the silence but only for a moment cause Jaime decided to disturb her.

In a way spending time with him felt like spending time with a child.

“Brienne, do you happen to maybe have after sunscreen?” She heard his voice from downstairs and couldn’t help but smile. “Or any lotion really? I feel like I’m gonna peel my face off soon.” He must have been done with his shower as well and closely looked at the damage that the sun made on his face.

“No way. Didn’t you find the time to take sunscreen during your unlimited time of packing for this vacation?” she replied, chuckling.

He sighed. “I thought we were done with it.”

“We were. But it was way too good opportunity not to use it.”

“Fair enough.” He went silent, probably waiting for her reply but when she didn’t do it he continued. “So what with the lotion?”

“Can you come here? I am exhausted," she moaned. Thinking about walking down the stairs was already making her legs hurt.

She heard the steps soon and in a few seconds, Jaime was standing above her.

“You good?” he asked. She opened her eyes and saw him staring at her with concern. His hair was still wet and he had no t-shirt on and even his face colored in hot red didn’t make him any less handsome. Gods. She stopped her eyes from falling down on his toned torso and biting her bottom lip. She was way too old to behave like a high schooler whenever she saw her crush.

Unfortunately, she had no control over blushing, but thankfully the burn covered part of it. “Yeah, just chilling to the limits,” she replied as natural as she could, hoping he won’t notice.

He smiled only. “Where do you have that lotion?” It seemed like the pain made his mind unable to think about anything else.

“It’s in the bathroom on the sink.” She pointed there. “I just used it.”

When he walked there, she closed her eyes again. Despite the fact that she slept quite a lot, her eyelids became heavy again. She fought with it for a while and she might have even heard Jaime’s voice and tried to reply to him but when every word came out as a mumbling, she gave in, letting herself fall asleep again.

# ***

When she woke up, it was already dark outside. She raised her body and saw Jaime lying on the bed right next to her, reading a book. His eyes moved to her as soon as he noticed that she was awake.

“Jaime?” She was so mad that she let herself be so lazy. “You should have woken me up! What time is it?”

“Around 9 pm I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing, closed the book, and put it away.

“We didn’t eat anything today, you must be hungry.” She rubbed her eyes and hissed when she touched the sunburn on her cheekbone by accident. “Why didn’t you wake me up? I got enough sleep in the morning.”

“Why would I? We’re on vacation,” he reminded her with a calm voice. But that wasn’t an excuse for sleeping for the whole day. “At least I finally got some time to finish this book.”

She needed a moment to be fully awake and only after she took a few deep breaths, she calmed down.

“What are you reading?” she asked, a little bit surprised cause she didn’t see him reading a lot before.

He waved his hand. “Business bullshit.”

“And you took it from downstairs and came back here?” she asked and smiled. That was actually sweet of him.

“Yeah. At least that way I had a company.”

Her smile faded as quickly as it appeared.

She moaned loudly. She was truly the worst friend he could have had. “I suck so bad! First, you got upset because of my whining during our way here and now this! I am so sorry.” She fell down firmly on the pillow with a groan.

This time he was the one who raised his body and looked at her.

“I got upset?”

“Yeah, yesterday at the beach.” She nodded her head and turned her eyes to him. “You were angry at me cause you felt I didn’t appreciate the surprise.” She didn’t plan on talking to him about this but letting it all out actually felt relieving.

He looked at her for a moment, probably trying to process what she was saying.

“It wasn’t because I got upset,” he said finally.

“Then why did you behave this way?”

“Because… reasons,” he answered, but couldn’t keep his eyes on her. He was so visibly lying.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, you can tell me you were mad at me. I would be mad as well.”

“I was tired, okay? I was working yesterday until the moment I called you. I simply wanted to get some rest.”

She squinted her eyes trying to look through him to check what was actually the truth. If only it was that easy.

“I guess I need to believe you on this,” she sighed. She went through her hair with fingers and felt they were already dry at this point.

Suddenly she heard her stomach rumbling.

“And who’s hungry here, huh?” he commented with a half-smile.

She thought for a moment. “You said there’s a village nearby? Maybe we could find something to eat there?”

“Yeah, that’s right. There should be some bars still open.”

“Let’s go then,” she said and after taking a deep breath she raised her body.

She went to the bathroom to check if she looked decently enough to go out and then walked down the stairs. Jaime followed her closely and after he took his wallet and she took her hoodie, they went out and headed to the village.

# ***

Taking a walk was a nice exchange for what they have been doing the whole day. Brienne could stretch her muscles a little bit and she couldn’t think of a better way to do this, than walking along the seashore, letting water wet her feet and watching the moon from a distance. 

Unfortunately, by the time they got to the village, everything seemed to be closed. The lanterns were the only things lighting up narrow, cobblestoned streets.

It looked like a very small community and the buildings didn’t look like anything they had in the city. Most of them were similar to their cabin – wooden, two-levels maximum. No flats, no skyscrapers, no car-parks even. She really felt like she went through a magic portal and appeared in a different world. They also looked like the houses on the photos that she got from Tarth so people might have built them this way on the island to fit the local architecture.

“It’s pretty quiet in here,” she said when they were exploring one of the small alleys. It was quite early still but many of the houses were already deeply immersed in the shadow.

“I hoped vacation time would make them be opened for longer, but it doesn’t look like they get a lot of tourists.”

“Yeah…,” she replied, looking around, trying not to lose hope too soon.

“Can I help you with anything?” Suddenly they heard the voice behind them and immediately turned around.

Brienne took a few steps to make sure it wasn’t someone who could be any danger to them. But when she saw a small, stubby woman with a storm of gray curls on her head she felt like they didn’t have to worry about their safety.

“Good evening, ma’am.” She smiled to reassure the woman that she didn’t have to be concerned as well. “We are looking for a place to eat,” she quickly explained. “Do you know if anything is still opened?”

“Good evening. No, unfortunately, you are late. Most places here close around 20.” The woman wiped her hands across the dress.

“That’s what we thought.” Brienne sighed and looked at Jaime, who made a sad face. “Anyway, thank you for your help, ma’am.”

And just when she wanted to walk away, the woman spoke again.

“You’re not from here, aren’t you?”

For the shortest moment, Brienne considered whether to engage in a conversation with a woman. But after all, she wanted to help them so they could only benefit from talking to the local inhabitant.

“No, ma’am. We’re from King’s Landing. We came here for a vacation.”

An evening in such a dark place didn’t sound like a good moment for a conversation, but women’s warm voice and readiness to talk compensated all the unpleasant conditions.

“You look a bit lost. My name is Sheela.” She stepped forward to shake Brienne’s hand. “I was born on Tarth, but nowadays I usually stay here on the land. Retail works better here.”

“I am Brienne and this is Jaime,” she politely introduced them just as the woman introduced herself. Jaime waved to her and Sheela sent him a friendly smile. “Actually, I was born on Tarth as well. I moved out a long time ago,” she chatted a little bit thinking it would be nice to add a word or two from herself.

She started regretting her sudden verbosity when the woman's smile disappeared. But soon she got to know that she actually should be thankful for what she said.

“Brienne?” The woman raised her eyebrows and took a few steps closer to look. It took her a few, curious glances before she opened her mouth again. “Selwyn and Ariannes’ daughter?”

Her heart started beating fast. She hadn’t heard her mother’s name out loud for a long time. Her father usually avoided saying it, so hearing someone articulating it without sadness or pity in their voice made her emotional right away.

Trying to stay calm she exchanged looks with Jaime, who was as surprised as her, and then she slowly nodded her head.

This small gesture happened to be a flashpoint for a woman’s energy.

“Seven Gods, I can’t believe this!” Her loud, warm voice resonated again and this time even bigger smile appeared on her face. “I haven’t thought I will ever see you again. You grew up so much. Last time I saw you, you were a child. My little Brienne.” The woman came closer, stroked her arms, and held her hands for a moment. Despite how strange these gestures may have seemed, Brienne actually felt a warm feeling inside. 

“You knew my parents?” she asked, hoping the woman would explain everything to her. 

“Knew? I was your mother’s best friend. Selwyn never liked me, but I didn’t care much about it.” She laughed melodically.

Brienne was speechless. She didn’t expect such a turn of events. Her father never mentioned any of her mother’s friends – after all, there was no need to do that, none of them were featured in the photos they had. She simply assumed that her mother was friends with everyone or they were all like one big family on Tarth.

She really didn’t want to think that if this woman was really her mother’s best friend, her father never mentioned her only because they weren’t in good relations.

“How is he?” Sheela continued. “He was a pain in the ass, but I hope he’s still in good health.”

Brienne smiled, feeling the tears coming to her eyes, and nodded. “He is, thankfully, he is.”

Suddenly they heard a muffled voice inside the house.

Sheela looked behind herself and laughed. “It’s my husband. He really cannot manage the house for five minutes without me. I guess it’s time for me to go.”

“I think we should go as well. If everything is closed here, we need to go somewhere further to find something to eat.”

“You won’t find anything even 10 miles from here at this hour. But wait, actually, I cooked a lot of food today. I can share it with you.”

Brienne immediately started shaking her head. “We don’t want to bother you, it must be a prob-“

But Sheela didn’t listen to her. “I would invite you but we have a baby in the house and it is the first night when she fell asleep so early.”

Brienne opened her mouth but that was when Sheela disappeared in her house. When she came back she was the first one to speak.

“Here you are.” She wanted to pass her a big pot, but immediately Jaime was by Brienne’s side to take it. “Also, if you don’t have any plans already, I would love for you to come over tomorrow. We could talk, I would find some old photos. If you want of course.”

She looked at Jaime to see his reaction. After all, he was the one who planned this holiday, he could have prepared something already, but before any further doubts came to her head she saw him nodding his head, encouraging her to say yes.

“I want to, of course, I do. We will be here.” She smiled and nodded a lot.

“Come around the afternoon, I will make some more food for you two.” Brienne has never met any of her grandmothers, but judging by people’s stories, Sheela must have been that grandmother’s type who wouldn’t let anyone around her be hungry.

“It’s not needed, ma’am,” she said mostly from politeness.

“Of course it is.” Sheela got closer to her again. “We need to celebrate you coming back. I am so happy to see you, Brienne.” She unexpectedly took her into an embrace and Brienne’s face landed in her hair. “Till tomorrow,” she said, pulling her tight one more time and letting her go.

“Good night,” Jaime said and smiled.

When Sheela closed the doors, he looked at Brienne. 

“Did it really happen?” she asked him quietly as she didn’t want the woman to hear her in case she was somewhere close to the entrance still.

“How do you feel?” Jaime checked on her immediately.

“I can’t believe it. You are sure we can come here, right?”

“Yes, wench, I couldn’t plan anything this good.”

“It wouldn’t happen, if it wasn’t for you, Jaime. I will be forever thankful for that.”

“Don’t exaggerate. Yet. Wait until you see the water stuff I rented.” He showed his perfectly white teeth and she rolled her eyes. He was truly spoiling her.

“Gods, you rented it for tomorrow, didn’t you?”

Before he could reply, he winced feeling the heaviness of the pot, so he begged her with a look to start walking back to the cabin already.

“I rented it for the whole week, so it doesn’t matter when we will use them,” he replied once he was sure the pot was lying firmly in his hands. Brienne looked at him still seeking more assurance. “It’s really fine, wench, I wouldn’t take you here if I didn’t know how important Tarth is to you. Meeting this woman must mean a lot.”

“It does.” She nodded and sighed. She was thankful that the way from the village to the cabin took only a few minutes because the smell from the pot made her mouth water. “Why do you think my father never told me about her?”

Jaime walked a bit in silence. “I don’t know,” he replied finally, fixing the vessel in his hands once again.

“What if he did it on purpose? He wouldn’t tell me anything about Tarth if I didn’t pressure him to do so.”

“If that woman was your mother’s best friend anything about her could bring up unpleasant memories. Maybe it was simply too hard for him to talk about someone so close to her.”

“You may be right,” she said as they were walking up the stairs to the cabin. “At least I want you to be right.”

“You can always confront him about it.”

“I guess he left me no other choice,” she replied sadly and turned around to look at Tarth bathing in moonlight. Seeing the island instantly soothed her.

“But that’s when we will be back. And now- -“ She turned around to see him struggling with the doors. “You need to help me.”

She chuckled. “Oh, move aside,” she said and pushed the doors firmly so he could easily slip through them with a huge pot in his hands.

# ***

While Jaime was searching through the cabinets in the kitchen looking for the plates, she took a moment for herself.

She looked at her face in the mirror and scanned every little part of it slowly.

She didn’t expect that day to take such a turn. About an hour earlier she was angry at herself for sleeping too much and in the end, somehow her exhaustion led them to meeting her mother’s best friend. She still had a hard time believing that it really happened.

She turned on the water, collected some in her hands, and cooled down her face.

When she put the lotion on her sunburn again, she heard the sound that must have been the plates and instantly went downstairs. She was way too hungry to let Jaime devour all the food by himself. The delicious smell graced her nostrils once again and as much as she waited for the conversation with Sheela, she also started looking forward to the meal she will prepare for them the next day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if you only want, leave a comment and share your thoughts with me!
> 
> What do you think about Sheela?


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